Placer-machine.



. CONLEY.

PLACER MACHINE.

. APPLlCATlON FILED MAR-20.1915.

Patented Mar. 28,1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1- m5 COLUMBIA FLANOURAFH c0-. WASHINGTON, D- c.

PLACER MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 20, 1915.

COINLEY.

Patented Mar. 28,1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

q/vi ww/o sac THE COLUMBIA Fun OGRAPH co., WASHINGTON, D. c.

JOHN CONLEY, OF DENVER, COLORADO.

PLACER-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented. Mar. 28, 1916.

Application filed March 20, 1915. Serial No. 15,724.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN CONLEY, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city and county of Denver and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Placer-Machines; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the characters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to improvements in placer machines, or machines adapted for the separation of free precious metal values from the gangue with which they are found mingled, as in placer dirt or sand, though the invention may be employed, if desired, as a concentrator, as it is well adapted for saving the heavier particles of metal whether in the form of free metallic values or where iannin rocess which as is well known b P 7 a a is one of the most effective methods of separating free metallic values from the gangue or crude material with which they are found mingled. The hand-panning process, however, while effective as stated, is nevertheless so slow thct it is not available except for the treatment of material on a very small scale and for the purpose of ascertaining the values therein by subjecting a comparatively small quantity to a test.

My improved machine, while operated on the principle of the hand panning method, is power operated, and is capable of handling a relatively large quantity of material.

Having briefly outlined my improved construction, I will proceed to describe the same in detail, reference being made to the accompanying drawing in which is illus trated an embodiment thereof.

In this drawing, Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved placer machine, the

principal parts being shown in section cutting the drum circumferentially. Fig. 2 is a similar view, but with the framework partly broken away, and showing the drum in the reverse position from that illustrated in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a fragmentary section taken through the lower part of the drum on the line 3-3, Fig. 2, cutting the open-ended receptacle or holder and the tray therein. Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the tray in detail. Fig. 5 is a fragmentary section cutting the central portion of the drum and showing the hollow axle in elevation.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all the views.

Let the numeral 5 designate a suitable upright framework including a pair of vertical standards 6 suitably spaced and arranged on opposite sides of a drum 14. These standards, through the medium of horizontal members 7, form the support for boxes 8 in which a hollow axle 9 is secured. The central longitudinal opening 10 through this axle forms a conduit or passage for water which escapes therefrom through a perforated pipe 12, which is connected with the axle by means of a threaded nipple 13 and is in direct communication with the passage therein, the nozzle also being perforated as shown at 11,'for the escape of water in the form of a suitable spray for a purpose hereinafter more fully explained.

The drum 14 is mounted upon the axle 9 and one of its heads is pivotally connected as shown at 15 with a rod or link 16 whose opposite extremity is pivotally connected as shown at 17 with an upright oscillatory arm 18, which is provided with a slot 19 in which the pivot 17 is adjustable for the purpose of regulating the stroke imparted to the drum throughthe medium of the arm 18 and the rod 16. The lower extremity of this arm is pivoted aS shown at 20, to a member 21 secured to the base 22 with which the upright framework composed of the members 6, is connected.

The arm 18 is connected through the medim of a suitable strap or other device 2?), with a pitman 24 whose opposite extremity is connected as shown at 25, with a strap 26 of an eccentric whose disk 27 is operated through the medium of a power shaft 28. The rod 24 is pivotally connected with the strap 23 of the arm as shown at 29. As the eccentric disk is rotated, it is evident that partial rotations in reverse directions will be imparted to the drum 14 on its axis, the degree of the stroke being determined by the length of throw of the arm 18, together with the position of the pivot 17 in the slot 19 of the arm. The lower this pivot, the shorter will be the stroke and consequently, the less will be the degree of rotary movement imparted to the drum. This drum is open for approximately one-third of its cir-.

cuinference, as shown at 30, this opening being in the upper part of the drum, or the part which may be said to be the uppermost during the operation of the machine. Extending downwardly from the rear extremity of this opening, or the extremity farther to the left in the drawing, the same being designated by the numeral 31, is a curved chute 32, which has a width equal to that of the drum and extends from one head thereof to the other head, thus spacing the heads. The lower extremity 33 of this chute overlaps a screen 34 which, as shown in the drawing, is reversely curved from the curve of the chute 32. In other words, the face of the chute 32 which receives the material, is downwardly curved, forming a concave surface upon which the material chute 38, which carries it away from the machine or to the dump.

The lower portion of the periphery of the drum is provided with an opening 39 which communicates with a receptacle 40 whichhas a length equal to the width of the drum and extends transversely of the latter, its

upper edge being flanged to receive fastening devices 4.1 which serve to connect the receptacle with the drum. This receptacle is preferably open at both ends to receive an auxiliary receptacle or tray 42, which isv slidably connected with the receptacle and is removed whenever it becomes necessary to clean up or whenever the tray may contain a sufficient quantity of metallic values to justify its removal. It is preferred to have" the receptacle 40 open at both ends (see Fig. 3) so that as one tray 42 is removed, another may be shoved in to place without stopping the machine. As illustrated in the drawing,

(see Fig. 3), the tray may be held in place .by means of pins 43 which are inserted in perforations formed in the receptacle 40 near the ends thereof. These pins project upwardly into the receptacle 40 far enough to form stops which engage the opposite ends of the tray and lock the same securely in place. The pins are, however, readily detachable when it becomes necessary to remove one tray and substitute another.

It will be understood that while the filled tray is being removed at one of the open ends of the receptacle 40, another tray may enter said receptacle at the opposite end, andthis opening. is regulated by means of an' adjustable valve or slide L6 which lS'C-OI1- nected with the drum by means of bolts 47 secured by nuts 48 which may be loosened for purposes of adjustment.

During the rotary reciprocating movement of the drum, the material is caused to advance toward the opening IL- i to such an extent that the gangue, which is of less specific gravity than the values, reaches the opening M and a quantityof thisv gangue is discharged at every stroke. For instance, if the upper part of the drum is moved forwardly (see Fig. l) and then subsequently moved in the opposite direction, the ma terial, by virtue of its momentum, will continue its movement toward the opening at the time that the stroke begins. Hence, for every reciprocation of the drum, a quantity of gangue will be discharged.

In order to prevent the water and gangue from moving through the opening a4 and passing to a considerable distance from the drum, I employ a hood 49 which is arranged adjacent the opening 44 and exterior thereto. This hood is hinged to thedrum as shown at 50 at one extremity. It is composed of a member 51 and a part 52 extending at an angle to the part 51 and adapted to engage the drum below the opening 44 when the. hood is in the. closed position.

This hood has side members 53 which, when theuhood is in the closed position, overlap the heads of the drum beyond its periphery, and prevent any splash of material as it passes through the opening A l. In order that the hood may open and close automati cally, the side walls 53 of the hood are pivotally connected as shown at 5% with rods 55. The opposite extremity of each of these rods is pivotally connected as shown at 56, with a spring 57 which is secured to an upright 6 of the frame 5' as shown at 58. The rods are so arranged with reference to the springs 57 and the hood, that as the upper part of the drum is moved forwardly or toward the right (see Fig. 1), the hood will open forthe discharge of material which has collected therein, allowing the same to fall into a discharge chute 59 which leads downwardly from the drum on the left hand side of the machine; while as the upper part of the drum moves in the opposite direction or toward the left, at whichtime a portion of the gangue and water is discharged through the opening 44, the hood will move to the closed position, (see Fig. 2), thus preventing thesplash through the opening 44. As the hood moves to the closed position, the

springs 57 are drawn downwardly or-placed under tension, while as the drum moves in the opposite direction, the hood is moved away from the drum, the springs 57 returning to their normal positio During the operation. of the machine, the material to be treated is fed from the hopper 35, into the drum through the opening 30, and falls first upon the chute 32 which is plain or unperforated. This material passes from the chute 32 to the screen 34:, which rejects the coarser material which passes through the lower part of the opening 30 to a chute 38 on the right hand side of the machine. At the same time, water is discharged from the perforated pipe 12 upon the under surface of the screem'and serves to facilitate the passage of the material through the screen, preventing the same from clogging. This water also passes downwardly into the drum and mingles with the material under treatment, thus furnishing the necessary element in the treatment of the material. As the partial rotations in reverse directions are imparted to the drum, the values, as in the form of free gold, gradually settle in the tray 42 while the gangue is discharged through the opening 44, the hood opening and closing as heretofore explained. Water may be supplied to one extremity of the hollow axle by means of a supply pipe 60. The extremity of the axle 9 opposite where the supply pipe enters, should, of course, be closed in order to prevent the water from escaping, except by way of the nipple 13 of the perforated pipe 12.

It must be understood that instead of employing a removable tray in connection with an open-ended receptacle 4:0 as illustrated in the drawing and heretofore described, any suitable means may be employed for removing the values from the drum. It should be also stated that instead of mounting the hopper upon a stationary framework, the hopper may be mounted in any other suitable manner. From this it will be understood that the construction employed for feeding the material to the drum, as well as that utilized for removing the metallic values after they have been caught bythe machine, are features of detail which may be varied as circumstances may require or as the judgment of the mechanic may dictate. In order to prevent the escape of metallic values with the gangue, the inner surface of the peripheral wall of the drum is provided in the vicinity of the opening 39, with teeth, lugs or rifflesfil which are so positioned as to retard the travel of the metallic values toward the left beyond the escape-opening 39 therefor, but to allow the material to travel freely in the opposite direction.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is,

1. A placer machine comprising a hollow drum mounted to oscillate on a horizontal axis, and provided with a receptacle offset from the drum and adapted to receive the metallic values, the said receptacle normally occupying the lowest part of the drum, approximately, the drum having a ganguedischarge opening normally occupying a position above the said receptacle, means for rotatably imparting reciprocating movement to the drum, a hood hingedly connected with the drum adjacent the gangue-discharge opening and adapted to receive gangue, and means connected with the hood for automatically moving the same alternately toward and away from the drum during the reciprocating movement of the latter, said hood adapted to receive gangue when moved toward the drum and release the same when moved away from the drum.

2. A placer machine comprising a hollow drum mounted to oscillate on a horizontal axis, and provided with a receptacle offset from the drum and adapted to receive the metallic values, the said receptacle normally occupying the lowest part of the drum, approximately, the drum having a ganguedischarge opening normally occupying a position above the said receptacle, means for rotatably imparting reciprocating movement to the drum, a hood hingedly connected with the drum adjacent the gangue-discharge opening and adapted to receive gangue, and means connected with the drum at one extremity and with a stationary support at the opposite extremity for automatically and alternately moving the hood toward and away from the drum during the reciprocating movement of the latter.

3. A placer machine comprising a hollow drum mounted to oscillate on a horizontal axis, and provided with a receptacle offset from the drum and adapted to receive the metallic values, the said receptacle normally occupying the lowest part of the drum, approximately, the drum having a gangue' discharge opening normally occupying a position above the said receptacle, means for rotatably imparting reciprocating movement to the drum, a screen mounted in the upper part of the drum below a feed opening of the latter, one extremity of the screen being flush with the lower extremity of said feed opening, the drum also having an opening for the discharge of the coarser gaugue reproximate y, the drum having a ganguedischarge opening normally occupying a position above the said receptacle, means for rotatably lmpartmg reciprocating movement to the drum, a chute and a screen mounted in theupper part of the drum below a feed opening in the latter, the chute adapted to overlap the screen and the two elements eX tending approximately the entire Width of said feed opening, and means for supplying Water to the drum for facilitating the treatment of the material.

5. A placer machine comprising a hollow drum mounted to oscillate on a horizontal axis, and provided with a receptacle offset from the drum and adapted to receive the metallic values, the said receptacle normally 7 occupying the lowest part of the drum, ap-' proximately, the drum having a gangue- I discharge opening normally occupying a" 7 position above the said receptacle, means for rotataloly imparting reciprocating movement to the drum, a screen mounted in the upper part of the drum below-a feed opening in the latter, means for supplyingwaterto the drum for facilitating the treatment of the material, said means comprising a hollow axle upon 'Which the-drum is mounted to rotate, and a perforated pipe arranged lengthwise Within the drum and in com- ,munication With the hollow of the axle to initially deliver Water against the screen.

6. A-placer machine comprising a hollow drum, a hollow horizontally disposed a-Xle upon WlllCll'tllG drum is mountedjto'oscillate, the drum being provided With a receptacle offset from itsperiphery to receive the precious metallic values, the said receptacle normally occupying-the lowestpartiof the drum, approximately, the drum having a gangue-discharge opening normally occupying a position above the said receptacle,- means for impartlng reciprocating movefl ment to the drum, a screen mounted in the upper part of the drum below a feed open to the drum, a hood hingedly connected ivith the drum adjacent the gangue discharge opening and adapted to receive gangue and tremity and with a stationary support at the opposite extremity for automatically and alternately moving the hood-toward andaWay from thedru'm during the reciprocating movement or the latter.

means connected with the-drum at one ex In testimony'ivhereof I aili'x my signature in presence of twowitnesses.

Witnesses:

' MAZE KIRBY, V A. Ennn'r GBRIEN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, hy addressing the .Gommissioner of Eatents,

Washington, D. 0.

Jenn .oo L'n-Y, 

